California Closes as Coronavirus Cases Climb

On today's episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan discussed a variety of topics including China's burgeoning alliance with Iran, the strange odyssey of Roger Stone, and a resurgence of the global pandemic affecting states like California and Arizona.

Guests:

Mark Frost - Economist, professor, consultant, drummer, Eagle Scout, Marine, libertarian’ish | Economic View of the Pandemic

Gareth Porter - Investigative Journalist, author and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security policy | The New Cold War

David Lugo - Producer, writer, and director of the documentary Sensational | Randy Credico & Roger Stone

The hosts discussed "cancel culture" and navigating free speech in a world of rapidly changing wokeness.

Mark Frost explored his libertarian view that the government should never be in a position to shut down businesses over masks but admitted there is not enough data in right now to determine whether the shut downs are the best choice economically or whether other options would have caused less damage in the long run. Mark and the hosts also discussed whether the pandemic was a motivator behind the protests, with Mark saying he thinks it's the sense of many Americans that there are "two Americas."

In the second hour, the hosts talked to guest Gareth Porter, who discussed the unproven allegations pushed by the New York Times that Russia was paying "bounties" for the Taliban to kill US troops in Afghanistan. Porter pointed out that the initial allegations were given almost no credibility by the intelligence agencies involved, yet the story has continued to be pushed, even though it makes no sense from a Russian perspective, whose main concern in Afghanistan was fighting Islamic terrorism. Gareth also discussed the new Cold War being pushed against China, especially given their alliance with Iran.

In the third hour, Shane and Jamarl spoke with filmmaker David Lugo about his personal experience with both Roger Stone and Randy Credico. Accusations against Stone for allegedly threatening Credico as a witness were discussed in the context of David Lugo's personal experience being harassed by Credico repeatedly. They also discussed the role of ideology and pushing various negatives that affect American society.

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